Using this Manual

The West Sussex Children Services Procedures Manual is produced and maintained in partnership with tri.x. It replaces all previous procedures manuals. The manual is updated on a regular basis and you can register to be alerted to any changes by using the 'Register for Updates' button.

For further details, please contact Melanie Spencer, Principal Social Worker (melanie.spencer@westsussex.gov.uk).

Note: We value the children and young people that we work with. In particular, the children and young people we care for are known as Children Looked After. However, in the context of this manual as the legislation refers to Looked After Children this is the terminology that is used within the procedures. We have changed the chapter headings of a number of the procedures to acknowledge the use of the term Children Looked After.

These procedures use the word 'must' where the provision is a legal requirement. The word 'should' is used where the provision should be complied with but is not a legal requirement, such as where it is taken from non-statutory government guidance or accepted good practice.

This manual will be updated on a regular basis and a summary of the changes can be accessed via the 'Amendments' button on the Home page.

The next planned update of the manual is May 2025.

If you would like to suggest a change to the procedures manual discuss your suggestion with your line manager in the first instance.

This manual contains range of Guidance to support you in your work, which can be accessed via the navigation bar.

• Procedures - this contains our key policies and ensures that we comply with the law and statutory guidance when safeguarding the needs of the children and families we work with. This guides our social work practice;
• Practice Guidance - contains local guidance, tools and other information that supports and complements our main policies;
• West Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership and the Sussex Child Protection and Safeguarding Procedures cover areas of work that relates to multi-agency child protection process, including guidance on the section 47, child protection processes, core groups etc as well as the areas of concern for example CSE, Missing, Domestic Abuse. You need to read this procedures too;
• MOSAIC - contains "Workflow" and "How to Guides" for specific areas relating to our policies.

The manual is accessed by readers who may find terms that they are not familiar with. Therefore, a glossary of definitions is available under the resource tab.

There is also a National Contacts resource populated with details of key national agencies and organisations likely to be relevant to procedures user.

Every effort has been taken to ensure regulatory compliance. If you discover any errors or omissions, please alert your manager.

These procedures use the word ‘must’ where the provision is a legal requirement. The word ‘should’ is used where the provision should be complied with but is not a legal requirement, such as where it is taken from non-statutory government guidance or accepted good practice.

We recommend that you register with us to automatically receive notification when this manual is updated, and to receive a monthly newsletter containing articles which may be of interest. Click on the 'Register for Updates' button on the home screen, to complete and send your details to us.

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The Manual is intended to be viewed on line to ensure only the most up-to-date version of procedures are being used. It will be updated regularly so, in the unlikely event there is a requirement for hard copies they should be destroyed after 72 hours.

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